First I put on a denim skirt and a knit top. I showed Elli. "Oh, mom. That doesn't look good at all." she said. Okay. "What's wrong with it." I asked. "The skirt doesn't match the top or the boots." she said quite convincingly. "It's denim. What do you mean it doesn't match?" I responded. "It's the style." she said.

So I switched to a different denim skirt, a little shorter, a little sassier. My second viewing for Elli got a worse reception. She checked me out top to bottom. "Oh mom. No. That's not right either. That slit in the skirt is all wrong."

okaaaaaay.

So I switched to regular jeans.

Now Don is chiming in.

"You need the kind of jeans that tuck in the boot." he said. "I don't have that kind. Those are skinny jeans." I said looking at him like he's crazy. I'm not really a skinny jeans girl. Jeez, am I going to have to buy skinny jeans?

I am not happy with how this is going. The jeans are totally covering up the cute boots. baaaah. So I cuffed them.

"The cuff is too big." says Don. So I make it smaller. "Still too big." he says. So I make it smaller again. Sheesh. It's hard being a fashionista around here.

We went to dinner and all was fine.

I had no idea it was going to be this hard to put together an outfit that is supposed to look effortless and cool.

Now Elli and her friend Courtney are giving me fashion advice. This is good and bad. They love fashion. But they're ten. I don't want to walk around looking like a 5th grader.

I'm off to check out Anthropologie and the Sundance website for ideas. Wish me luck.